Sheet registering mechanism



May 16, 1961 K. E. KIST ETAL 2,934,482

swam REGISTERING MECHANISM OriginalFiled May a, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. KHEL .5. K/Sf BY Ja a VflA/OE/VH/V May 16, 1961 K. E. KlsTETAL 2,984,482

SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM Original Filed May 8, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. K96; 5. K67 BY JHCKE VAM/0EMA/v May 16, 1961 K, E. KIST HAL2,984,482

SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM Original Filed May 8, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR. K/QEL EK/ST y JOCK E V/M/flE/WM/ United States Patent SHEETREGISTERING MECHANISM Karl E. Kist, Brecksville, and Jack E. Vandeman,Berea, Ohio, assignors to Harris-Intertype Corporation Originalapplication May 8, 1958, Ser. No. 734,012. Di-

coded and this application Dec. 14, 1960, Ser. No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 271-46) This invention relates to sheet registeringmechanism of a printing press, and is a division of US. applicationSerial No. 734,012, filed May 8, 1958.

A primary object of the invention is to simultaneously apply suction tothe underside of traveling underlapped sheets of a stream at a pluralityof transverse points.

A more specific object is to provide for use in connection with frontregistering mechanism for underlapped sheets of a stream, a plurality ofhorizontally traveling suckers with valving directly at the suckermouths, such val-ving being operable to open in response to forwardmovement of the suckers.

Other objects and advantages Will be apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of sheet registering mechanismof the invention illustrating a position of the parts when anunderlapped sheet has arrived at the front stops.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing additional partsin thepositions they occupy when a sheet is just about to be forwarded togrippers on a cylinder.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the parts of Fig. 1 in their positions at atime the grippers on the cylinder have just closed on a sheet.

Fig. 4 is a plan view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. l with the sheetremoved.

Fig. 5 is a view taken looking substantially along the line 55 of Fig.2.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed elevational view of sheet holddownsuckers constituting the invention.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3 showingadjustable means for limiting the extent to which the overguide hooksmay be lowered to the operative position of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a connection between certain operatingparts and is taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a timing diagram demonstrating the operation of the severalparts as it might exist in a commercial machine.

Referring now to Fig. 1, sheets are fed from a conventional pile feederalong a feed table 10 in underlapped stream fashion. The leading edge ofeach sheet underlies the tail end of the previous sheet. A plurality ofcontinuous tapes 11 pass around a tape roll 12 and drive the stream ofsheets down the feed table toward registering mechanism at the forwardend thereof just prior to the sheets being fed to a cylinder 13. Thecylinder may be an impression cylinder of a printing press or a feedcylinder which subsequently transfers the sheets to an impression orother cylinder. Several idler wheels (not shown) rest on top of thestream as it is fed down the table 10 and cooperate with the tapes 11 toeffect frictional driving of the sheets. They feed the sheets to a feedplate 14 the top surface of which is substantially coplanar with andconstitutes the forward end of the feed table 10. The feed plate 14 isnotched at certain portions as shown in Fig. 4 for purposes which willbe described later. Front stops 15 located below the feed plate movefrom the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1 tointercept the sheets and front register them in a well-known manner. Aplurality of overguide hooks 16 have rearwardly extending overhangingportions 17 which maintain the leading edges of sheets against the feedtable and prevent their passing over the tops of the front stops 15. Thefront stops and hooks move to the positions of Fig. 1 prior to the timesheets arrive at the front stops. Before the sheets arrive there, theyare taken by reciprocating suckers 18 (shown in detail in Fig. 6). Inthe preferred form of the invention, these suckers grasp each sheet inturn on its bottom side near its leading edge while the suckers aretraveling at sheet speed substantially and lead the sheets beneath theoverguide hooks 1 6. Reciprocation of each sucker 18 is effected by anoscillating arm 19.

After a sheet has arrived at the front stops 15 and has had sufiicienttime to settle against the front stops, it is gripped by a pair of sideguide wheels 20 and urged against a conventional side guide abutment(not shown) to register all sheets identically along one side thereof.The mechanism for operating the side guide wheels has not been shown indetail since it is well understood by those familiar with that art.Suffice it to say that the side guide wheels 20 may comprise a fixedaxis lower driven wheel and a movable upper idler wheel which togethergrip the sheet upon completion of front registration and frictionallydrive the sheet against the side guide abutment previously referred to.Upon completion of side guiding, the sheet is pinched by feed rolls andfed by them to the cylinder 13. The feed rolls of the present inventioninclude a plurality of fixed axis driving rolls 21 carried on a shaft 22located below tht feed table so as to have the peripheries of the rolls21 approximately coinciding with the surface of the feed plate 14. Tominimize the distance of feeding from the rolls to the cylinder 13, therolls 21 are located as close to the cylinder 13 as is physicallypossible without interference of parts. A plurality of upper movablefeed rolls 23 cooperate with the lower rolls 21 to assist in grippingand forwarding the sheets one by one to the cylinder 13. The upper rolls23 are idler feed rolls carried on arms 24 mounted on an oscillatingshaft 25 which is operated at the proper times by a cam (not shown) on acam shaft 26.

The sequence of feeding sheets may be shown by comparing the positionsof the sheets in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. In Figs. 1 a first sheet S is held inthe grippers of the cylinder and its tail end is being removed from thefeed table. The tail of sheet S is located slightly to the rear of theside guide wheels 20 at the time a second sheet S arrives at the frontstops 15. In practice, the overguide hooks 16 move vertically and liftthe tail of sheet S so as to scrape the sheet S therefrom if there isany tendency of sheet S to cling to sheet S and want to pass over thefront stops 15. The overhanging portion 17 of each overguide hook 16 ispointed so as to provide a scraping edge for stripping S from S Veryshortly after the tail of the sheet S passes the side guide wheels 20 asshown in Fig. 1, the wheels may close and drive the sheet S against theside guide abutment. The wheels 20 maintain their grip on the sheet Suntil after the tail of the sheet S has passed the transverse grippingline or point of the feed rolls 21 and 23. Any time after the tail ofthe sheet S passes the feed rolls, the feed roll shaft 25 may beoperated to bodily move the idler rolls 23 into contact with the sheet Sand positively grip the sheet S In practice, the tail of the sheet S maybe a few inches past the feed rolls, but the idler rolls 23 are actuallycapable of moving into contact almost immedithe front steps ately afterthe tail of the sheet S passes them. This is possible since theoperation of the shaft 25 may occur during only one or two degrees ofrevolution of the cylinder 13. As a practical matter, however, it isoften necessary to have .a gap in a plate cylinder (not shown) of sucha-size suflicient to enable rapid installation and removal of the plate.Plate clamps are required to fasten the ends of the plate to the platecylinder and these plate clamps require adequate room for ease ofoperation. The gap in the plate cylinder limits the amount of effectiveprinting area and therefore requires a similar gap to be placed in thecylinder 13. The gap is shown at 27. The size of the gap, of course,determines the spacing between sheets as they pass through the press. Onthe particular press shown, the circumference is approximately 32",about 4" of which includes the gap. The particular feed roll mechanismof my invention will enable this gap to be reduced another inch or sobecause of the rapidity with which the rolls 23 can be operated uponpassing the tail of the sheet S and the closeness with which sheet S maybe fed behind sheet S Now, as soon as the rolls 23 grip sheet S the sideguide wheels may release their grip. At this time the driving rolls 21are stationary. The front stops 15 and the hooks 16 are then dropped tothe positions shown in Fig. 2 after which time the driving feed rolls 21may start driving the sheet S toward the cylinder 13. At this particulartime grippers 28 carried in the gap 27 of the cylinder are open and aremoving into their sheet receiving position shown in Fig. 3. Gauge pins29 are positioned across the cylinder 13 and are offset laterally fromthe grippers 28. The sheet S is driven forward by the driving feed rolls21 and the now-lowered idler rolls 23. The sheet is fed at a slightlyfaster rate than the speed of the cylinder 13 until the sheet S hits thegauge pins 29, is crowded against them to give a second frontregistration of the sheet against the gauge pins, and is then taken bythe cylinder upon closing of the grippers 28. As soon as the grippers 28close, the shaft is oscillated to move the idler feed rolls 23 out ofcontact with the sheet and discontinue their driving action incooperation with the lower feed rolls 21. The sheet is then transferredby the cylinder 13 to subsequent cylinders of the machine.

Front stop operation Operation of the front stops is effected asfollows. The front stops 15 are carried on arms 30 mounted on a shaft 31having a fixed axis. Each arm 30 is fastened to the shaft 31 by means ofbolt 32. A lever 33 is keyed to the shaft 31 and cooperates with a cam34 through a cam follower 35 carried on the lever 33. The lever 33 isnormally urged clockwise about shaft 31 to maintain the follower 35 onits cam 34. This is accomplished by a spring 36 surrounding a rod 37 oneend of which is backed by a pin 39 in a frame portion 38. The rod 37pivots about the pin 39 while the other end passes through a hole in anoddle pin 40 pivotally carried by an extension 41 of the lever 33. Theextent of movement of the follower 35 toward the cam 34 is limited by anadjustable abutment 42 which engages an abutment 43 on the extension 41.These abutments limit the uppermost position of the front stops 15. Theshaft 31 is located rearwardly of the feed roll shaft 22 and the arms 30are generally horizontal. This is desirable so that up and down movementof the front stops 15 will be substantially perpendicular to the feedplate 14 rather than parallel to it. By being perpendicularly movable,any slight misadjustment of any one of the front stop arms 30 or play inthe parts due to wear will not have a tendency to move a sheetrearwardly. It will be noticed that because of the crowded condition ofthe parts beneath the feed plate 14, particularly the location of theshaft 22 and the lower feed rolls 21, it is necessary that the arms 30carrying extend between the feed plate 14 and the shaft 22' and alsorolls 21.

Overguide hook operation Operation of the overguide hooks 16 is effectedas follows. The cam 34 which operates the front stops 15 through the camfollower 35 may also and preferably does effect part of the operation ofthe hooks 16 by means of a link 44 connected to a pin on the lever 33.Because of the fact that the feed roll shaft 22 is very close to thecylinder 13, pivotal movement of the hooks 16 is not by itselfsufficient to move the hooks between their operative and inoperativepositions. A fixed axis shaft 45 carries a bracket 46 for each hook 16and also a short lever 47. The lever 47 has a pin 48 near its end towhich one end of the link 44 is connected. Now, as the lever 33 isrocked, the link 44 through the lever 47 imparts an oscillating motionto the shaft 45 and therefore pivots the overguide hooks 16 through avery small angle. Suppose the parts are at this time in the position ofFig. 1 and the hooks 16 are to be moved below the feed plate 14. This isaccomplished by the cam 34 moving the [follower 35 outwardly, therebypulling rightwardly on the link 44 and pivoting the shaft 45counterclockwise. The hooks 16 therefore will also movecounterclockwise. At about the same time, the hooks 16 are given adownward movement in addition to their pivotal movement. This ispermitted by the fact that each bracket 46 permits Sliding of its hookup and down relative to the bracket. Such sliding action is accomplishedthrough means of a cam 49 mounted on the cam shaft 26, a cam follower 50mounted on a lever 51 pivoted on a shaft 52, a lever 53, which urges alever 54 carried on a shaft 55 in a clockwise direction which in turnpivots downwardly a lever 56 to the end of which is connected a link 57pivotally fastened to a member 58 mounted on the bottom end of each ofthe overguide hooks 16. There is also one such lever 56 for each hook.

An eccentric adjustment 59 shown in detail in Fig. 7 provides theconnection between th lever 51 and the lever 53, and a roller 60workable in a slot 61 in the lever 53 provides the connection betweenthe levers 53 and 54. The adjustment 59 provides for relative angularadjustment between the levers 51 and 53 by means of an eccentric shankportion 62 of a bolt 63. The purpose of such adjustment is to limit thelowermost operative position of the overhanging portions 17 of the hooksto provide for the many different thicknesses of stock handled. When theoverhanging portions 17 are in such position, a few thousandths of aninch clearance is provided above the sheet, the purpose of theoverhanging portions being to prevent curling or distortion of theleading edges of the sheets while they are being front registered. Allof the parts previously mentioned for operating the front stops and theoverguide hooks are shown in their operative positions in Fig. 1 andtheir inoperative positions in Fig. 3. Spring 64, rod 65, noddle pin 66and pivot pin 67 perform substantially the same as the correspondingparts holding the follower 35 against the cam 34.

Sucker operation Referring to Figs. 2, 5 and 6, operation of the suckersand communication of vacuum thereto is achieved as follows: A pipe 68extends transversely below the feed plate just forward of the side guidewheels 20. The pipe extends across the width of the press and transmitsvacuum to a plurality of the suckers 18. Vacuum comes from a pump by wayof a flexible hose 69 controlled by a valve to be described shortly. Thesuckers themselves are reciprocated from a rearward position shown inFig. 2, to a forward position shown in Fig. 1. Such reciprocation isalong tubular slides 70 shown in detail in Fig. 6. These slides comprisea portion of a valve means directly at the suckers themselves. Inoperation, when the suckers are in their rearward or Fig. 2 position,vacuum is communicated to the pipe 68 and to the opening 71 of eachslide 70. A cross opening 72 communicates at specified times with anannular recess 73 connected to the sucker mouth by mean of holes 74 and75. In the rearward position, the annular recess 73 is behind theopening 72 so that vacuum in the opening 71 is not transmitted theretoat that time. Upon forward reciprocation of the suckers 18 through meansof the arms 19, the recesses 73 coincidewith the openings 72 and vacuumis communicated instantaneously to each of the sucker mouths. In thepreferred form of the invention, the suckers are reciprocating forwardat sheet speed at the time they take a sheet. The suckers grasp thesheet slightly to the rear of its leading edge.

As will be seen in Fig. 4, the reciprocating suckers 18 lead directlybeneath the over-hanging portions 17 of the hooks. They are aligned in adirection of sheet feed with the overguide hooks for best results. Oncethey reach their foremost position as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, therecesses 73 are beyond the cross openings 71 and now communicate withports 76 connected to atmosphere. Therefore the suction mouths breaktheir hold on the underside of the sheet after they are under theirrespective hooks. If perchance one or more of the suckers 18 do not gripthe sheet because of curling of the stock or some other reason, thescraping edges of the overhanging portions 17 of the hooks 16 willperform their action to strip the sheet from tending to adhere to thebottom side of the outgoing sheet partially on the cylinder 13.

While the suckers 18 are in their forward position and before they areretracted rearwardly, vacuum to the plpe 68 is disconnected so that thesuckers 18 may travel back without disturbing the sheet. Even though thevalve formed by the opening 72 and recess 73 are again opened on thisreturn stroke, the fact that no vacuum exists in the opening 71 preventsthe application of suction to the underside of the sheet on the reversestroke. Once the suckers 18 are in their rearward position, the vacuumin the openings 71 may again come on but at that time it is notcommunicated to the holes 74 and 75- due to the fact that thecross-openings 71 and the recess 73 do not coincide until the arms 19again start the forward reciprocation of the suckers. Operation of thearms 19 is effected through cam 77, cam follower 78, spring 79 andlevers 80 and 81. The two latter levers are fixed to a shaft 82 to whichthe arms 19 are also fastened. Since the arms 19 are pivotal and thesuckers 18 move in a straight line, the connection between each pair isa pin and slot similar to that described between the levers 53 and 54for effecting the up and down movement of the overguide hooks 16.

Vacuum to the hose 69 comes from a main line 83 from the pump. A valve84 is shown in Figs. 2 and 5 and comprises a lever 86 which turns arotor 87 in response to action of a lever 88 due to rotation of the cam77 which efiects reciprocation of the suckers 18. Lever 88 is carried ona pivot 89 and has its other end carrying a cam follower 90 cooperatingwith the cam 77 and a spring 91 maintaining the follower 90 against thecam. As the lever 86 carrying the rotor 87 is turned, a hole 92 eitherconnects or disconnects the hose 69 with the line 83. As previouslydescribed, it connects the hoses prior to forward movement of thereciprocating suckers 18 and disconnects them prior to the returnstroke. If desired, the valve 84 can be dispensed with and vacuumcontinuously communicated to the slides 70. This however might requirethat the pipe 68 pivot to permit the suckers 18 to be dropped below thelevel of the feed plate 14 on the return stroke, or that some form ofvalve means close off the cross openings 72 when the suckers reach theirforward end of the stroke and open them again at the rearward end oftheir stroke.

6 Timing A timing chart is shown in Fig. 9 to illustrate the relativeconditions existing at specified times during the cycle of feeding eachsheet. The chart commences at 0, this being the position shown in Fig. 2where the feed rolls are just about to start a sheet forward. It will benoticed that at that time the hooks are down, the vacuum in the suckers18 is off, the suckers are on their way back, the side guide wheels 20have released the sheet, the front stops 15 are below the feed plate 14,and the upper feed rolls are closed on the sheet. By following thetiming lines to the right across the chart for each of the parts, thesequence of operation of the various parts can be studied. The chartrepresents 360 or one complete cycle or cylinder revolution of thepress. Since such operation has already been described to a largeextent, only certain portions will be re-described as they relate to thechart. It will be noted that at approximately 268 on the chart, the tailof a sheet held by the cylinder 13 has just cleared the side guidewheels 20. Two degrees thereafter, the side guide wheels may close onthe underlying sheet and commence side guiding it. Then, atapproximately 325 the tail of the outgoing sheet clears the feed rolls.The feed rolls are shown as closing approximately 5 later. As mentionedpreviously, this may occur in just one or two degrees because of theparticular arrangement of the feed rolls combined with the underneathregistering mechanism. The only operation required for closing the feedrolls is the oscillation of the shaft 25 which can occur very rapidly.The side guide wheels 20 can move up at approximately 335. Any timeafter the side guide wheels have released the sheet, and as soon as thefront stops 15 and the hooks 16 are moved to their inoperativepositions, the feed rolls can commence feeding the sheet. As shown onthis particular chart, about 25 is permitted for the operation of thefront stops, hooks and side guides to their inoperative positions. Asmentioned earlier, some of this time can be dispensed with if desired,since the hooks and stops can be operated much faster than described.However, because of gap size limitations, all the time which isavailable is used to operate them more slowly.

By utilization of the known principle of underneath registration ofsheets, in combination with feed roll sheet feeding mechanism, we canfeed sheets in closer succession than heretofore possible.Under-registration permits us to start our front registration at anytime within the limits of the speed of the sheets down the feed table bythe tapes 11. Commencement of the side registration can occurimmediately after the tail of an outgoing sheet passes the side guidingwheels, if desired. If the time it takes the tail of the sheet to movefrom the side guide wheels 20 to a point past the gripping line of thefeed rolls 21 and 23 is sufiicient for side guiding, we can grip theregistered sheet almost immediately upon passage of the tail past thefeed rolls. The only limitations on how fast we can feed the next sheet,or how close we can feed it to the previous one is determined by thetime it takes to release with the side guide wheels 20 and move thefront stops 16 and hooks down.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed in considerable detail, further modifications, constructionsand arrangements will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it ishereby our intention to cover all such modifications, constructions andarrangements which fall within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. Means for feeding sheets along a feed table to registering mechanismof a printing press, comprising a plurality of suckers, mechanical meansinterconnecting the suckers for reciprocating the suckers substantiallyhorizontally in the direction of sheet feed and back, said means beingoperated to close when the suckers reach their forward positions oftravel and remain closed until the suckers reach their rearwardpositions and are again ready to travel forward.

,3.'Means according to claim 2 in'which the sucker valves each comprisea stationary slide, said slides having vacuum communicating theretothrough .said additional valve means during the forward travel of thesuckers.

No references cited.

